Kansas Chipotle Manager Demands To See Muslim Employee’s Hair, Grabs, Removes Hijab: Authorities
New
Age Islam News Bureau
01
October 2023
•
Kansas Chipotle Manager Demands To See Muslim Employee’s Hair, Grabs, Removes
Hijab: Authorities
•
Dissidents And Women Are Targeted By Iran’s High-Tech Surveillance
•
Women Play 'Prominent' Role In Syria's Suwayda Protests
•
Arrest Of Women Activists Condemned By UN's Afghanistan Mission
•
Women Activists Protest In Germany Against ‘Gender Apartheid’ In Afghanistan
•
In Pakistan’s Gilgit City, New Women’s Market Is ‘One-Stop Shop’ For Gems And
Handicrafts
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kansas-chipotle-muslim-hair-hijab/d/130798
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Kansas
Chipotle Manager Demands To See Muslim Employee’s Hair, Grabs, Removes Hijab:
Authorities
Saifan refused to remove her hijab on every
occasion, saying she wore it because of her religious beliefs
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September
30, 2023
KANSAS
CITY, Mo. — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Chipotle of
religious harassment and retaliation after a manager at a Johnson County
restaurant grabbed and partly removed a Muslim employee’s hijab when she
refused his demands to see her hair.
The
EEOC filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas,
on behalf of AreejSaifan, who worked at the Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Source:
Rawstory.Com
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Dissidents
And Women Are Targeted By Iran’s High-Tech Surveillance
In Tehran on September 18. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/
West Asia News Agency via Reuters.
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By
Emma Gibson
September
30, 2023
On
September 16, we marked a year since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini
following her arrest by the Iranian government’s “morality” police. The regime
has harshly cracked down on protestors, especially women, since that time. In
order to do so, it has installed a formidable system of digital surveillance.
Mahsa’s
death set off protests against the mandatory hijab and the so-called “morality
police” that made international headlines. The bravery of women, often leading
the charge, cannot be overstated. The Iranian regime responded to the protests
with severe punishments. Human rights organizations Equality Now, Femena and
the Centre for Supporters of Human Rights, described these inhumane punishments
and other human rights abuses in their joint submission to the UN Human Rights
Committee, published in anticipation of the anniversary of Amini’s death.
In
order to identify and punish dissidents, it has employed a sophisticated
digital surveillance apparatus. The controversial new hijab bill is an example
of both. The 70-article bill prescribes harsher penalties for women as well as
severe sanctions against public figures, businesses and service providers who
support them. The bill proposes the use of artificial intelligence to enforce
dress code violations — a disturbing manifestation of gender-based persecution.
Digital
technology has been a two-edged sword for Iranians: the same technology that
has the potential to empower voices is being used to silence them. Using
advanced facial recognition software and tracking online interactions, the
government identifies and harasses those who dare to dissent. This
technological might is disproportionately used against women, whose demands for
equal rights are seen as direct threats to the state’s ideological foundation.
It’s
not just about cameras on street corners or drones in the sky. The real
Orwellian nightmare lies in the shadows of the internet. The government
monitors popular platforms and can intercept traffic on encrypted messaging apps,
which protesters often rely on for organizing. Bloggers, influencers and other
ordinary citizens face intimidation, arrest or worse for simply expressing
their opinions online.
Perhaps
most disturbing is the state’s increasingly invasive eye into private spaces —
the cars and walking routes of private citizens. In a chilling testament to
this, a spokesman for Iran’s police boasted that over a million text message
warnings had been sent to women over the span of just two months, as detailed
by a harrowing report from Amnesty International. Warnings for what? Being
unveiled in their own cars. In over 133,000 cases, police used text messages to
order women not to use their vehicles, and they sent over 4,000 “repeat
offenders” to court.
Digital
rights are, at their core, human rights. A society where individuals cannot
communicate freely, privately and securely is one where fundamental freedoms
are under assault.
Digital
rights are connected to the right to peaceful protests in multiple ways.
Encrypted communication tools can offer activists and protesters a way to
communicate without the fear of government interception or retribution. When
mainstream media is censored or muzzled, social media platforms can allow for
the rapid dissemination of information, rallying supporters for a cause. And
the digital realm offers an expansive library of resources on peaceful protest
tactics, rights awareness and international solidarity efforts.
Iran
is far from the only regime restricting digital freedoms while using the same
digital technology to suppress dissent or to surveil its citizens. In India,
for example, police have made use of an app that allows citizens to turn their
private CCTV systems over to police use, while in China mass surveillance has
been used to gather information about the movements and activities of private
individuals in a form of “predictive policing.” Across all these examples,
there is evidence that surveillance and infringement on privacy rights
disproportionately target individuals and groups whose identities make them
vulnerable, such as women or minorities, or whose political activities
challenge the status quo.
But
here lies the challenge: As governments like these become more adept at
quelling online dissent, how can activists stay a step ahead?
The
international community can play a crucial role. We can pressure tech companies
to safeguard user data and prioritize end-to-end encryption. We can counsel
digital rights organizations and civil society on the threats posed by
state-led digital surveillance and censorship and the implications of the
technology being produced. Most importantly, as a global community, we can
consistently spotlight abuses, ensuring governments understand that the world
is watching. Regulation of the digital space along human rights principles will
ensure that this does not become a new environment in which Iranian women, or
any others, are vulnerable to abuse and harm.
While
the Iranian government’s tactics are emblematic of a more significant global
issue, the world must remember and uplift the unique bravery of Iran’s women,
who stand tall even when shadows loom large. For Mahsa and countless others
like her, we must persist in our shared fight for digital and human rights.
Their courage deserves nothing less.
Source:
Fairobserver.Com
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Women
play 'prominent' role in Syria's Suwayda protests
30
September, 2023
Hundreds
of Syrians protested Friday in the southern city of Suwayda, as women play a
growing role in the anti-regime demonstrations that have rocked the province
for over a month, activists said.
Peaceful
protests have swept Suwayda province, the heartland of the country's Druze
minority, since Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime ended fuel subsidies
last month.
An
activist and a witness told AFP that between 2,000 and 2,500 people took part
in Friday's protests, some chanting anti-government slogans and waving Druze
flags.
One
male protester carried a large banner with a list of demands, including a
transitional government, a "new constitution" and for displaced
people and detainees to return home.
Another
woman protester, Sana, 50, said: "Bashar must leave. One family has
dominated during my entire lifetime," she added, also declining to provide
her surname due to security concerns.
Civil
war erupted in Syria after Assad's regime crushed peaceful protests in 2011.
Iran and then Russia intervened to keep the Syrian dictator in power.
Wajiha,
in her twenties, said she walked half an hour in the heat to Suwayda's main
square, carrying anti-government banners for daily protests that have been
going on for weeks.
Women
from Suwayda have been present at rallies since the conflict broke out, she
told AFP by telephone, but "the difference today is that women are not
only demonstrating, they are planning and organising the movement".
Syrian
security services have a limited presence in Suwayda, and Damascus has turned a
blind eye to Druze men refusing to undertake compulsory military service.
Followers
of an offshoot of Shia Ismaili Islam, the Druze made up less than three percent
of Syria's pre-war population. They have largely kept out of the conflict.
The
Assad family has been in power for more than half a century, ever since Bashar
al-Assad's father Hafez seized power in a 1970 coup.
Source:
New Arab.com
https://www.newarab.com/news/women-play-prominent-role-syrias-suwayda-protests
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Arrest
of women activists condemned by UN's Afghanistan mission
30
September, 2023
Two
women activists and members of their families have been detained in
Afghanistan, the United Nations mission said Friday, calling the arrests
"deeply troubling".
The
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement
that NedaParwani and Zholya Parsi had been detained for the past 10 days, and
urged the country's Taliban authorities to give them access to legal and
medical aid.
"Ongoing
arrests and detentions of individuals simply for exercising their rights to
freedom of expression and opinion is deeply troubling and contrary to
Afghanistan's international human rights obligations," UNAMA said in a
statement.
Since
seizing power in August 2021, Afghanistan's Taliban government has imposed a
strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country, largely excluding women
from public life.
Teenage
girls and women are barred from schools and universities, thousands have lost
their government jobs -- or are being paid to stay at home -- and they are also
prohibited from entering parks, funfairs or gyms.
In
its statement, UNAMA also named three other people it said were in detention --
journalist MortazaBehboudi, education activist MatiullahWesa, and scholar
Rasoul Parsi.
"UNAMA
calls for the de facto authorities to cease arbitrary arrests and detentions
and to ensure that all those detained are afforded access to family, lawyers
and medical care and have their rights to a fair trial upheld," the
mission said.
Source:
New Arab.Com
https://www.newarab.com/news/arrest-women-activists-condemned-un-afghan-mission
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Women
activists protest in Germany against ‘Gender Apartheid’ in Afghanistan
01
October, 2023
Kabul
[Afghanistan], October 1 (ANI): A group of women’s rights activists in
Afghanistan have initiated a campaign to officially recognize “gender
apartheid” in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, Khaama Press reported.
TamanaZaryabParyany
and other European Afghan activists set up a protest camp in Wuppertal, Germany
on Friday, inviting Afghan activists in Europe to join the campaign.
A
statement on Paryany’s social media page read, “We call upon the conscience of
women and all free individuals in Germany to stand with our sisters in
Afghanistan and not allow the regime of gender apartheid to persist in
Afghanistan.”
Notably,
these women’s rights activists had previously gone on a hunger strike by
setting up a protest camp in Cologne, Germany, from September 10-22, Khaama
Press reported.
Source:
The Print.In
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In
Pakistan’s Gilgit city, new women’s market is ‘one-stop shop’ for gems and
handicrafts
NISAR
ALI
October
01, 2023
GILGIT:
Every day at the break of dawn, 28-year-old Haseena Farman unlocks her
riverside shop of handcrafted shawls, sweaters, gemstones and decorative items
and waits for customers.
Business
has been going well since she opened the store in a recently inaugurated,
eco-friendly women’s market that has become a godsend for women entrepreneurs
in the mountainous northern city of Gilgit.
The
market, which was inaugurated in August and has 24 shops so far, is a joint
project of the Gilgit Development Authority and the Women Chamber of Commerce
and Industry and has, in the words of businesswomen like Farman, given them a
“special place” of trade in a region where, like many other parts of Pakistan,
cultural and religious norms and social expectations act as barriers to prevent
women’s entry into the business sector.
According
to Gilgit-Baltistan’s Education Department, the female literacy rate in the
area has been recorded at 41 percent while the male literacy rate has been
recorded at 66 percent. Despite high literacy rates, women form only 15.5
percent of the labor force in Gilgit-Baltistan, according to data by the Agha
Khan Rural Support Network, a non-profit company.
“Earlier,
we [women] didn’t have a special space [to sell our products],” Farman told
Arab News. “I used to make these items for my cousins, relatives and sisters …
After the opening of this market, we have got a proper setup.”
Razia
Asif, another female entrepreneur at the market who sells gems, jackets and
decorative items, said she used to sell her goods from home until the market
launched.
“We
opened this shop a month ago,” she said. “We have been given the opportunity by
the government to bring our products to market.”
Speaking
to Arab News, GDA director Sajid Wali described the market as a “one-stop shop”
to buy local handicrafts, gemstones, dried fruits and traditional cuisines at
affordable rates while enjoying a beautiful riverside view.
Wali
also hoped, he said, that the market would serve both as a bustling tourist
spot in the near future while empowering women of the region at the same time.
“However,
only a limited number of products prepared by them reach our markets due to
lack of opportunities. Their [home-based] businesses don’t run very smoothly
all the time. We know these things and have tried to bring these women into a
proper retail market.”
Mubareka
Gul, an executive member of the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry in
Gilgit division, said women of the area previously found it difficult to market
and sell their goods.
“For
the first time in history [in Gilgit], women can run these businesses in a
friendly environment under tight security,” she said. “This is a family market
and families come and visit this place.”
“The
women trained by us, who did not have direct market access, have become
successful due to the government of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Women Chamber of
Commerce,” Gul added. “We hope that this market will become a business hub.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2383461/pakistan
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kansas-chipotle-muslim-hair-hijab/d/130798